Kultur 6

I felt more close to German culture now because of the Bild Zeitung. Maybe it is a worldwide cult, to make fun of somebody with a twist of humor and sex. Gossiping in mass media, Bild Zeitung does a very good job. I was very shocked to know that they published paparazzi photos of Chancellor Merkel's naked derriere. If I see President Obama's naked paparazzi picture, I would be so shocked too.  German culture is quite wild!

The article about remained closed door in Germany is pretty normal, too. At least I don't open my door in school or my room, because I like to have my private space from others. Although, I have a story where I go to my piano lessons every week, and my professor is in midst of teaching somebody else inside of the room. I have to knock to let him know that I'm there, but he can't hear me every time even if I knock loudly. I can't knock 10 times and get tired, because I have to play some pieces for him later. So, I decided to go up to the room 5 minutes later, and knock the glass window part instead of the wooden part. Now he easily recognize my existence, hence there is no awkwardness on my waiting time.

Easy German Episodes

Easy German Episode 12 - Flirten
Easy German Episode 20 - What is typical German to you? (part1)
Easy German Episode 21 - What is typical German to you? (part 2)
Easy German Episode 22 - Dreams and Wishes
Easy German Episode 38 - Der schönste Moment Im Leben

For my AMD6, ich habe Easy German Episodes gesehen. Ich begann mit eine Episode zu flirten. It was entertaining to watch, and my favorite pick-up line from the clip was "Halt mal kurz, ich ruf dich an." The guy said this line while giving his iPhone to a girl he was flirting with. Although, this line only works when the girl has an interest in him, and not stealing the phone. I realized that there are not much guy's pick-up line in Deutschland, but there are many active girls who are eager to flirt without the help of alcohol.

Second clips are episode 20 and 21. There were sehr viele Antworten.

"Was ist für Sie typisch deutsch?"

reliableness - Zuverlässigkeit

stubbornness - Sturheit

socks in sandals - Socken in den Sandalen

beer - Bier

laboriousness - Fleiß

tidiness - Sauberkeit

bureaucracy - Bürokratie

everything is regulated - alles ist reglementiert

Currywurst

Pretzel - Brezel

Bratwurst

coziness 

knockle of pork - Schweinshaxe

Exorbitance - Überzogenheit

potatoes - Kartoffeln

Bockwurst

very correct

doesn't exist

punctuality - punktlichkeit

cold - kalt

unapproachable - unnahbar

sausages

Lederhosen

to be on time - dass man punktlich ist

to be ambitious - dass man ehrgeizig ist

to be disciplined - dass man diszipliniert ist

bossiness - Rechthaberei

grouchiness - Meckertum

friendly - friendlich

neatness - Ordnung

stress - Stress

Also, many were not proud to be in Germany, but many were happy and loving to live in Germany and to be German. One of the reasons is that there are more foreigners in the country than before, so the more the diversity, the less the sense of nationalism that people would have. Some would like to live in Italy, Argentina, Greece, Ireland, Canada, Sweden, Spain, France, Yugoslavia, and Australia. So random!!

Third clip was about dreams and wishes (Träume und Wünsche). I thought this clip was so sweet. The interviewer (Manuel) was in north Germany, where the temperature was -6C. So everyone was frozen, but not the salt water! Here are the dreams and wishes from the people in north Germany.

a boy said: von Lego Star Wars gibt's den Todesstern haben

another boy said: der Tempel von Playmobil (der von den Schatzjägern)

young female said: Nach Afrika zu fahren

another female said: nach Irland zu fahren

little cute boy said: Fliegen :)

young woman said: Eine neue Kaffeemaschine

a couple said: ein Auto

At the last clip, Manuel (the interviewer) asked people in Berlin about the happiest moments in their lives. Es war ein sehr herzerwärmend Clip.

"Was war der glücklichste Moment in deinem Leben?"

Antworten:

"Ja, vermutlich die Geburt, ne? Aber, kann man sich schlecht dran erinnern, ne? Ja." 

(Well, probably birth, right? But that's something that is hard to recall, right? Yes.)

"Das erste Mal mit meinem Freund."

(The first time with my boyfriend.)

"Als ich den Hund bekommen habe. "

(When I got the dog.) AWW

"Als meine Tochter zur Welt kam."

(When my daughter was born.)

"Vielleicht mein Jahr in Mexiko…"

(Maybe my year in Mexico…)

"Es ist alles irgendwie schön gerade."

(Somehow everything is great right now.) 

It was hard to catch up with fast German speaking people, but with English sub, I enjoyed very much of German culture and people. I'd like to look into more of these clips!

Kultur 5

I thought Germans were polite and conservative, but apparently they don't use the word excuse me "Entschuldigung." I'm sure the article is not 100% right because I do hear "entschuldigung" from them. Or, it is because they are in America?

For the toilet lady, I think it is similar to southern part of America. When I was in Texas for my high school years, I saw many Hispanic or African American ladies/men cleaning the restrooms. Especially in schools and public restrooms, they tend to stay there and clean for the entire time. The only difference from the one in Germany is that they are more friendly and don't get to paid by toilet users. They frankly chat with students and people in the public building, take rests when they want, and have meal with the other people. I hope the one in Germany can be like that, too.

I personally don't know how to flirt (at least I don't realize that I do). It's funny to see other people flirting each other. When I came to America at age 15, I was shocked from the openness of amour. In Japan or China, I didn't really see people flirting during the day (we do in nights, of course). But in America, people were flirting during the class, restaurants, games, and etc. Basically 24/7! I had to cover my eyes when people were making out at the lockers. Anyways, flirting in Germany is somewhat more comfortable for my taste. Maybe it's boring to not to show the emotions apparent, but I like the idea of slowly knowing the person you are interested with an intelligent observation.

One of my dream cities is Hamburg, because it is my favorite composer's (Johannes Brahms) birthplace! I want to visit St. Pauli and die Sankt Michaeliskirche. It will be very beautiful just to take a walk along the shore.

Schokoladenhimmel in Köln, Deutschland

For my AMD5, ich habe Schokolagenmuseum Köln Homepage besuchte. Hier ist die URL:
http://www.schokoladenmuseum.de/start.html

The museum is all about chocolate: it shows the history of cacao beans, ingredients of chocolate, chocolate class, and etc...

The museum also grows tropical papaya and vanilla inside of a greenhouse.

Of course, there is a chocolate factory inside.

Wir können Schokoladenwaffeln versuchen, für kostenlos!

Das Café im Inneren (Chocolat Grand Café) ist sehr schön! Ich will ihre heiße Getränke und Kuchen versuchen...

Ich möchte wirklich diese süße Himmel zu besuchen!

German Comedy

Celebrities - Vic Dorn
Dating - The Noodle
Education - German Yodeling School

For my AMD4, I watched some German Comedy clips on YouTube. I watched three of them by Loriot: Celebrities, Dating, and Education. Mein Favorit war Education denn it was funny how Germans are so serious about everything, and they were just studying how to yodel in this school. Students were mostly men, and all of them were like 40s-60s roughly.

"Holleree Dee Doodle Yirh, Deeree Dee Dee Doodle Dirh, Hollerah Dee Duhdle Doh, Holleree Doo Dirdle Dee, Deeree Deeree Dirdle Doo"

Above is the basic motif of the 'Archduke John Jodle'. How can we possibly be able to write this down just by hearing it? It's so hard!

It was an acquired experience for mich to watch German comedy shows because I didn't know when to laugh, and what was supposed to be funny…

Mimi Minagawa, Kultur 4

I've heard all the stories about how Germans love bike riding, being obsessively detailed, and follow the every single rules. I thought the articles for this unit was bland, but I enjoyed reading the textbook readings this time.

I know some of Goethe's poem, but I didn't know there were 136 Goethe-Institute in 92 countries around the world. That's a lot.

80% of German population owns a bike, and they ride it if the distance is 5km or less. Here in Amerika, some of us ride a bike, but the primary transportation is a car. I guess Germans has more healthier body because of dike riding. That's why they eat so much read! How in the world can gas cost US$9.00/gal in Germany? That's too expensive!

Ich liebe ihn!

Wenn Worte Meine Sprache Wären - English translation
Wenn Worte Meine Sprache Wären - YouTube

For my AMD3, I listened to German popular music by Tim Bendzko, a leading male singer-songwriter.  His debut album (17.6.2011) Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären ("If words were my language") was a mega-hit in Germany, and was sold 300,000 copies and was awarded for 3x Gold. 

Ich liebe seine Texte, because his Texte is full of sadness, love, and longing. 
Mein Favorit war das:

Wenn Worte meine Sprache wären
ich hätt dir schon gesagt
Wie gern ich an deiner Seite wär
denn du bist alles, alles was ich hab
Ich kann verstehen, dass es dir nicht leicht fällt
du kannst nicht hinter die Mauer sehen
aber ich begreife nicht dass es dich so kalt lässt
dir kann der Himmel auf Erden entgehen
der Himmel auf Erden

*Englisch Texte*

If I could speak the words
I would have already told you
how much I’d like to be by your side
For you are everything, everything that I have.
I can understand it’s not easy for you.
You cannot see behind the wall,
But I didn’t understand it could leave you so cold
Heaven on earth can elude you
Heaven on earth

I love how he is trying to speak to a girl, but unable to do so because he can't find the right word. So he decided to write the song about it. Maybe it's a girl thing, but Tim Bendzko just touched my heart and made my day, so I changed my mac background to his album picture (see below). Ich liebe ihn!

Kultur 3...Mimi Minagawa

I feel like the Germans capture beer as water, like wine for French, tea for English. When I saw the listing of beer recommendation, most of them were really strong and dark, and I agree how their beer is "liquid bread." I'm not a beer drinker, but I'd like to try some of them and have a taste of Germany in future. Right now, I'm good with Japanese beer.

I read another article about Kabob, a German fast food. I don't know why, but when I was in elementary school, I often got Kafta in country side Japan after long piano lesson. I've never seen Turkish people in Japan, so my little brother and I had no idea where they came from, but we truly enjoyed the food. After an hour or so, my brother was stuck in restroom, and we were worried about him. Apparently he had a diarrhea from Kabob! Since then, I'm kind of sketchy about eating a Kafta sandwich with Kabob slices in it. Anyways, since Germans loves organic and safe food, I want to try at least once.

I was amazed how much carbohydrates Germans consume! They eat breakfast twice, lunch, and dinner. Dinner and the first breakfast are similar meal contents, and I'm surprised how they have time to cook lunch for the main hot meal of the day. How can kids in school have hot meal in the day if they are in school? Lunch box won't work either... Also, they don't really eat vegetables. They just eat salad or soup for appetizer at lunch, but other than that they eat fruits for vitamins. I feel like if I'm in German meal style, I'd be constipated for all the time.

I have a thought about Germans depression culture. Whenever I work on German composer's piece, I say 90% is about how humanity is hopeless and life is so miserable, but there are gorgeous hopeful (hoffen, as Beethoven often used in his music) moment that make the music meaningful. I love this moment because after all the suffering, moaning, crying, and etc., when the glorious moment arrives, I can sing my heart out and really enjoy the moment. Perhaps, Germans like to have dark side to enjoy the little lightness (Leichtigkeit) fully. If life with so much positiveness, we can't really appreciate the positiveness much, but depress about little darkness. I think Germans are having the right attitude to enjoy what they think is the positive in life, so let them be!

The Nasty Girl (1990)

For mein zweiten AMD Aktivität, I chose to watch Deutsch Film mit Englisch subtitles. The movie is called The Nasty Girl (Das Schreckliche Mädchen), and the basic story was about ein High-School-Mädchen (Sonja) who tries to find her community's Nazi past, but get bullied by the other members of the community. This movie is not so serious, the director Michael Verhoeven shot the movie with a touch of comedy and drama on top of history. Sonja's research continues even after high school time, and because of the living struggle made by others, her husband Martin decides to live separated from her. At the end, the townspeople change their tune, and even putting a bust of Sonja at the town hall. Sonja rejects the honor because she sees this as means to silence her.

I don't want to give y'all the whole story plot, so I'll just schreibe my experience of watching German movie with Englisch subtitles. First, ich wa glücklich to see Wort that I learned from class, and I often repeated the words and phrases after the movie. 
Zum Biespiel, "Ich weiß nicht," "Gott sei Dank," "Entschuldigung!""Ich fing an, Theologie, Deutsch und Geschichte zu studieren," "Ich schreibe ein Buch."Also, German movie is quite different from watching South Park (German audio and English subtitles). I think I liked the movie, so the German sounding didn't strike me as a brutal effect like machine gun.

This movie was published in 1990, so the film still uses black and white effect in the snippets of the movie. The main actress, Lena Stolze, was so viel gorgeous and pretty, ihre Augen sind perfekt.

Deutsch Film ist so interessante und schöne!

Kultur2...Mimi Minagawa

I have lived in many places through my life, and have experienced different kinds of Asian culture and American culture. Personally, I prefer Japanese culture where people have more class and do perfect business. However, I'm not really comfortable with fancy elaborations and praise that Chinese culture has. People are always writing emails from 3-7 paragraphs to communicate with each other (from my experience with people in age  40-70s). They mingle things like "Oh, how I missed you lovely face!", "I really appreciate what you have done, and I'll never forget your great blessing!" Those are nice things to hear, but essentially, those don't matter with the core topic of the email.  My German friend told me that none of German people think that they are similar to Japanese people, but in this case, I do think that we have common life style. We, Japanese, write short and sweet emails to focus on main subject and be done with it. German likes yes or no answer. I do like it a lot!


I've heard a saying that Germans complain all the time, even my German friend told me. He said, "In Germany, we have to complain. It's like a custom. Even when we have pleasant time, we complain. Just get use to it!" Now that's not like Japanese. We fake all the time and hide the real thinking behind. I think how German people handle this everyday issue is pretty smart because no matter how you like it or not, you'll understand what the other people are thinking, and you'll most likely know the realm of the others.


The article about staring nanny was so weird. I understood the reason why they are staring, it's just to keep and watch out neighbors, so that they know they are safe. But still... It's creepy!

South Park

I watched South Park in German with English subtitle. The link is http://www.southparkstudios.com/full-episodes/s01e01-cartman-gets-an-anal-probe?=undefined. Honestly, I haven't even watched this show in English either, so I was quite shocked from violent and grotesque quality that little elementary school kids have. Well, aside from that, I was laughing so hard from the German sound effect on South Park. For example, a woman bus driver who was really frustrated on the kids sounded perfect tome in German because she sounded more frustrated.

There was a chef at elementary school, and he sang jazzy song in midst of the show of course in German, and I thought I wouldn't like it because Jazz is American culture, but surprisingly, I pretty liked it!

There were so many funny sounding German that I would like to share with y'all:
"Dammit!" --- "Verdammt!"
"Ow, my ass!"(Cartman) --- "Ow, meinen Arsch"
"Ew" (Wendy) --- "Ew" (sounded more like ee with no emotion)

I'd like to watch German movie for next time!

Amazing German Jews

This article told me a brief description of German-speaking immigrants, and I found this interesting because the mingle of German and Jewish culture was brought to America at same time. Now that I think about American culture, there are so many German influences such as food, music, arts, and intellectual life. German Jews came to the U.S. during and after the Hitler's suppression, and they mostly came to New York and California.The article mentioned Kurt Wirse's story, Bambi, and how later Disney adapted the story and became one of the most famous stories of American children's books. When I was in my childhood, I read the book over and over, and watched the animation as well. I didn't know that this story was by German Jews, I thought it was just American story. Another contribution was in Hollywood, the famous The Sound of Music. Although I haven't seen this movie yet, I know some of the music from it. Almost everyone in America has seen the movie and became its fans, so I can see how German Jews' contribution was pretty important in America.

The connection between Jewish culture and German culture is quite strong, and I know why it is, obviously. In spite of the dark history, I'm glad that some of them escaped to America and stayed here to contribute their amazing gift and share with us. We should appreciate again about their gift on movies, music, food, and etc.!

:)

Mein Lieblingswort ist herzlich.